in the heart of the forest
by queen-sheep
Summary: Lily stared at the cylindrical burn mark on his wrist where her silver ring had touched his skin. "Oh, Hugo," she said.


_Written for the QLFC S6R11_

 _Prompt: Write a story that is inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer_

 _Optional prompts: (quote) We all want to escape our circumstances, don't we? — Benedict Cumberbatch, (object) torn dress, (object) compass_

* * *

Lily Luna Potter sat amongst the leaves of the forest, feeling hopeless and lost. What was she even _doing_ here? She was miles from home and she missed her family. The last time she had spoken to them was months ago through a staticy phone call when they wearily asked her if she was coming home for Christmas that year. She hadn't been able to answer them then, like she hadn't been able to answer them the previous year.

Her dress had become torn when she was chased by a pack of wolves earlier that day, and she was tired, hungry, and questioning every single decision she had made that had brought her here. Dusk was beginning to fall and with it, her only chance of finding her way out of the forest. Her compass swung lazily, uselessly from her fingers.

Within her despair she felt a tentative hand on her shoulder and whirled around in her surprise, her dagger in one hand, her wand in the other.

"Please don't stab me!" a familiar voice said.

Lily's eyes went wide. "Hugo?" she asked. Relief spread throughout her body and she felt her knees go weak as the adrenaline fled from her.

"Yes! That's me," he said. He smiled at her and it was as if they were transported back ten years, back before he disappeared and left the Potter-Weasley families in shambles.

Lily quickly sheathed her weapons and flung herself at her cousin in joy. He caught her and swung her around once. "Oh, thank Merlin!" she cried, "I'm so glad to see you! Let's go home now, shall we?"

Lily wrapped her hand around his wrist and tugged, but Hugo didn't move. He simply stared at her with a mournful expression on his face. He disentangled his arm from her grip with a wince, and Lily stared at the cylindrical burn mark on his wrist where her silver ring had touched his skin.

"Oh, _Hugo_ ," she said.

The sun dropped from the sky, taking the last of the light and warmth with it. Hugo stared at her with eyes that glowed unnaturally gold.

…

 _BREAKING NEWS_

 _HUGO WEASLEY MISSING, WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN_

 _On March 19, reports of a missing student have emerged from Hogwarts. He was last seen heading for the Forbidden Forest. While this isn't the first instance of students disappearing at a school infamous for housing dangerous flora and fauna, this is the first instance of a missing student not appearing afterwards, alive or otherwise._

 _Hugo Weasley is approximately 165 cm tall with brown curly hair. He was last seen wearing his Hogwarts robes and scarf. If you've seen a person matching this description, please notify the aurors immediately._

…

"You need to stop coming here," Hugo said, perched on a log and not looking one bit uncomfortable in the freezing cold November air. Lily glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, still trying to get used to his new pale face and the fangs that poked out of his mouth when he smiled.

She had become a vampire slayer in order to hunt down the vampires that had stolen her cousin from her family. She just hadn't banked on him becoming one himself.

She had intended on leaving the night she found out that he was on of _them_ , but the day before she was supposed to board the train, she had ripped up the ticket and paid for another night in the motel instead. Now, she found herself keeping company with her cousin every night when the sun wouldn't blind him as much.

"Auntie and Uncle miss you a lot," she said instead, as she always did.

"Lily, stop," he said wearily.

"Rose too," Lily continued stubbornly. "She's fighting to implement the Hugo Bill in order to protect children from being bullied in school and—"

"Lily," Hugo said with steel in his voice. "Stop it. Now."

The lingering smile had all but dropped off his face and he looked different like this. He looked like… like a predator. Lily shivered and wrapped her shawl more firmly against her body.

Hugo's face softened and he looked away. "Sorry," he muttered.

"I just don't understand," Lily said sniffling, feeling her eyelashes grow damp from her tears. "How could you choose them over us?"

"We all want to escape our circumstances, don't we?" Hugo murmured.

...

 _Lily crept downstairs, where a dim light still shone in the dead of night. Her dad was pacing the length of the kitchen and her mum was seated at the dinner table, her head in her hands._

" _Any news?" her mum asked, voice hoarse._

" _I just received word from Sanguini that the vampires have Hugo. They found him in the Forbidden Forest and just… took him. They've refused to give him back."_

" _Can't we do something about this?" she asked wearily._

 _Her dad shook his head. "Vampires are notoriously tight-knit. They have their own clans, their own bureaucracy, and their own rules. It's not something outsiders can enter in so easily."_

" _This is a_ little boy _, we're talking about!" Her mum's voice had raised into a shout, and her dad quickly shushed her with a nervous glance at the door. Lily ducked behind the banister and hoped the darkness would hide her lurking figure._

 _She had known her cousin was having trouble fitting in at school, and she had known the other kids in their year had dared him to enter the forest in some stupid prank, but she had never known it would end in this._

Stupid, stupid, stupid _, she berated herself. She could've stopped this. Why didn't she?_

 _But she knew why. She wanted to fit in as well, and she was afraid that by sticking up for Hugo she would stand out as well. And so when the other boys had seen him off, snickering, she stood by and did nothing._

 _Her parents voices rose and Lily tuned into the conversation again. "What about a vampire slayer?" her mum asked, voice dropped so low that Lily had to lean in to hear her. "Could we hire one to infiltrate them?"_

 _Her dad faltered at that. "I don't think that would be a good idea. You know how those people get. It could be dangerous."_

Aha _, Lily thought._

…

"So what are you planning to do now?" Hugo asked. "Are you going to kill me?"

The last part was said as a jest, but there was an undercurrent of seriousness to it. Lily thumbed over the sheath of her silver dagger and mutely shook her head.

It was a month later and she still didn't have an answer, but she knew she had to move on. By now, the motel staff were more than familiar with her. She knew each one of the staff by name, and they all greeted her cheerily in the morning.

"Are you happy here, Hugo?" Lily asked. "Are you being cared for?"

Hugo was silent for a long moment. "It's… different," he said. "But there's no pressure here, not like at home. Out here I can just be who I want to be. I can live a quiet life. You know that's what I've always wanted, Lil."

"Did you asked to be transformed?" Lily asked.

"Would it matter if I did?" Hugo asked.

"I guess not," Lily sighed.

"You should go home, Lily," Hugo said gently. "You need to move on like everyone else has. I'll be fine, I promise."

There was truth in his words, Lily belatedly realized. Her family had never forgotten Hugo, but had accepted his decision to stay within the vampire clans. Rose was doing what she loved. Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron had been recuperating from the loss, slowly but surely. She was the only one stuck in the past.

"If you leave now, you'll make it in time for Christmas," Hugo prompted.

"When did you get to be so mature," she complained.

Hugo smiled at her. "When you were off becoming a vampire slayer, I suppose."

Lily stayed grumpily silent at that, but she knew that he was right. She supposed it was time for her to grow up as well.

...

In the daytime, the clearing looked completely different. It looked brighter somehow, filled with a little bit of hope. Lily dropped a bag of blood lollipops on the ground—a parting Christmas gift for someone else to find later that night—before she left the place once and for all.

She had a train to catch after all.


End file.
